Nephilim darkness
by Cityofangels
Summary: After an adventure in India, Lara runs into a man who claims to be a very good friend of Kurtis Trent.
1. Back into the belly of the beast

**Disclaimer: I do not own Lara Croft or anything else connected to the games.**

**Summary: After an adventure in India, Lara runs into a man who claims to be a very good friend of Kurtis Trent.**

Chapter one, Back into the belly of the beast.

Lara Croft lunged through the air as the cave behind her collapsed. Her landing wasn't soft, she landed on her stomach and felt some skin on her arms and legs gash away. They were just a few scratches, nothing serious Lara saw. She crawled back on her feet, wiping the dust and dirt from her clothes. She picked her sunglasses and checked to see if it was still in one piece. Except for the dust it was in perfect condition.

Lara blew the dust from her glasses and put it back on her head. She reached for her backpack and removed the artifact she had just found. The black rose, a beautiful black diamond. Created by the Babylonians to protect their king from evil spirits. Lara gave it one last look and then put it in her bag.

"Well that was fun, but time to go, I'd love to be back in Delhi before nightfall." she said with a smile on her face.

It was still two hours driving to get back to Delhi. Lara stepped into her jeep and placed her backpack on the passenger seat. The engine of the jeep was started and Lara took it through the jungle. After an hour driving she had found the road back to Delhi, Lara looked at her GPS and saw she was still going into the right direction.

The infrastructure here is not as in England, the roads are tricky and full of bumps and holes. Nothing Lara's jeep can't handle though. She had driven through all kinds of roads and jungle's and it had never failed on her.

Neither had it this time, after a little more then two hours Lara arrived in Delhi, a complete difference from the jungle. Skyscrapers, busy streets and traffic that forced Lara to a halt.

"Well at least I made it to Delhi before nightfall." Lara said.

She let out a deep sigh as she saw the reason behind the traffic.

"But it will take a while before I'll reach my hotel."

A hanger full of sheep that had been attached to a small truck had collapsed and now a group of about ten sheep was blocking the road. Everyone was yelling at the driver of the truck. It seemed the police still hadn't arrived.

"Excuse me…" A girl's voice suddenly said.

Lara looked around and saw a girl standing next to the jeep, Lara smiled at her.

"Yes?"

"Are you Lady Lara Croft?" the young girl asked.

"Yes I am, what can I help you with?" Lara asked but was a little confused about the situation.

"My daddy wants to talk to you he says it's important." The girl pulled out a picture and handed it to Lara.

Lara accepted it and gave it a close look. Her eyes widened, this was the last thing she expected to see. It almost seemed to be impossible but Lara's eyes weren't deceiving her, it was indeed the sign of the Nephilim race.

"How did you…" Lara looked up but the girl was no where to be seen. "get this…"

She looked around, hoping to find a glimpse of the young girl. It has no use, the streets were packed with people, impossible to find a little girl in this crowd.

"Bugger…" Lara softly cursed.

She looked back at the paper and turned it around. She cocked an eyebrow, there was an address written on the back of the paper. Was someone trying to lead her in a trap, or was this little girl really telling the truth.

"Well Croft, you know there is only one way to find out." Lara told herself.

She entered the address in her GPS to see which way she had to go. The GPS showed her a route of five minutes driving.

"Well at least I won't have to stay in traffic now."

Lara turned her jeep out of the large row of cars and followed the route her GPS shows. After five minutes Lara reached the address that the girl had given to her. She could see that this was clearly one of the poorest area's in Delhi. Lara parked the jeep, she took her backpack and got out of the car. She knew her guns were in her bag, if it was a trap Lara certainly was going to need them.

She looked at the house, it looked quiet inside. The windows were covered with a few old rags. The staircase leading to the door seemed ready to fall apart and the front door looked just about to be in the same condition. Even so, this house seemed to be in the best condition if you compare it with all the other houses in this street.

Carefully Lara walked up the wrecked staircase, once upstairs she knocked on the door. It took a moment before the door opened. Lara looked down and saw a little boy from around the age of nine. Not much later a man arrived. He was tall and skinny, there was barely any hair left on his head but he had a fully grown beard and through it appeared a smile.

"Lara Croft, I'm glad you could make it, please come inside." The man said with a deep voice.

"Who are you, and how do you know my name?" Lara demanded to know before she decided to enter this house.

The man nodded.

"I understand your anger Miss Croft, my name is Ihsmir Omer. I was a former member of the Lux Veritartis and a very good friend of Kurtis Trent."

_Kurtis? Does this man know where he is? Or is he telling me nothing but lies._

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"You can't…" he said, completely anticipating Lara's words.

Ihsmir stepped aside, waiting for Lara to make her decision. Lara nodded at him and walked inside. The young boy immediately grabbed Lara's hand and showed her to the living room, or better said, an attempt to create a living room. There were two wooden chairs, both in rather good condition, a small cupboard was standing under the left window and a table stood on the opposite side of the two chairs.

The boy dragged Lara to one of the chairs and after she and Ihsmir had seated themselves he sat down on the floor, close to Lara as if he was watching her and wanted to protect her in case there was any danger. Lara smiled at the boy but then looked at Ihsmir.

"Mr Omer, what do you know about Kurtis, is he still alive?"

"Let me tell you what I know Miss Croft." He said. "Six months ago Kurtis came to me and asked me for my help. He said that a man named Eckhard was planning the rebirth of the Nephilim. I told him I couldn't help him because of my family, I couldn't put them in danger, that's why I left the Lux Veritartis. He understood and left."

Ihsmir moved around in his seat, he seemed to be a little uncomfortable.

"About a month later I received a phone call, it was Kurtis and he seemed to be stressed. Kurtis told me he would come and visit me in two weeks, if not, something happened to him and he told me to contact a woman."

"Me…" Lara said.

"Yes, you. He didn't even give me time to answer and just hang up the phone. It was the last time I spoke to him."

"How did you know where to find me?" Lara asked.

Ihsmir stood from his chair and walked to the cupboard, he opened the top drawer and removed a small notebook. He walked back and handed Lara the notebook.

"I received this a few days after our phone call."

Lara opened the notebook, she raised her eyebrow when she saw a picture of herself. She looked further through the notebook, Kurtis had filled it with notes about the occurrences in Paris and Prague.

"I don't have the same contacts as Kurtis, I've been looking for you for months and then all the sudden you show up here in Delhi. I saw you walking over the market two days ago."

"Two days ago, why didn't you contact me then?" Lara asked.

"I thought it was too much of a coincidence. There was this voice in my head that told me it was a trap, that you were a member of the Cabal send out to kill me."

"What made you decide to contact me after all?"

"Because Kurtis asked me to, and because I feel that in a way I have been responsible for his death."

Lara frowned "You think he's dead?" she asked.

"I fear he might be dead, but I don't know what happened in Prague."

"Eckhard managed to capture us, he locked us up with a genetically altered beast. Kurtis let me escape and gave me the shards to kill Eckhard while he fought Boaz, the beast. I managed to kill Eckhard and the Sleeper but when I returned all I found was Kurtis his chirugai."

"No Miss Croft, don't you understand, you never killed the Sleeper, Joachim Karel still lives."

"What? How do you know?"

"I used to be a member of the Lux Veritartis, together with Kurtis we are the only ones left. Every night I have nightmares, Kurtis has them too, they will not end until Joachim Karel is dead. The nightmares are our connection to him, they are our knowledge about his existence."

"Then if he is still alive, how can we kill him, the shards were destroyed in the Strahov."

"There is one more, but only one, the last page of the notebook."

Lara turned the pages until she reached the final page. There was a drawing of a shard. She hadn't seen this one before. A rose was wrapped around the handle and there was something written on the blade, but the drawing wasn't sharp enough for Lara to read it. She looked further down and saw Kurtis had made some notes.

_Father had told me once that the Shard was hidden in a temple south east of the dead river in India. The river lies in the jungle near Delhi. But he told me I was never allowed to find this one. "This shard is dangerous son, you must never try to retrieve it, leave the shard where it is so that its dangers can never be released." He never told me why the shard was so dangerous, but I know that if there is no other option I have no choice but to find it._

"We must find the shard." Lara said.

"No Miss Croft, you must find the Shard, I can not endanger my family." Ihsmir said.

"I understand." Lara said. "I will need the notebook."

Ihsmir nodded.

"Yes off course, take it, it is yours. You will need to travel the dead river and to do that you need a captain that's willing to take you there. Not many boatmen want to travel the dead river, but I know a man who is more then willing to take you, for the right price. His name is Khoa Yune and you can find him in the Golden monkey."

Lara put the notebook in her backpack and nodded at Ihsmir.

"Thank you for the help Mr Omer."

Ihsmir held his hand up.

"No thank you Miss Croft, thank you for helping against Karel."

"Not a problem at all." She said.

Lara stood from her chair, ready to leave.

"I don't think I should waste any time, I'll go to the Golden Monkey immediately."

"Yes, off course, good luck Miss Croft."

Ihsmir showed Lara outside. She walked down the wrecked staircase and found her way back to the jeep. Lara started the engine and with the help of her GPS she was on her way to the Golden Monkey.

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Well what do you think, is it good, does it need some changes, please tell me and let me know if I should continue this story.


	2. The scent of fish and oil

_Akkon, Thanks for the review, haha everyone is worried about Kurtis, but I'm not saying a word, just read and find out:)_

_NFI, like I told Akkon, I am not going to tell anything about Kurtis his condition, you will find out by reading the story, but thnx for the review and I hope to get more as well:)_

_Little turtle, Thanks for the review, and don't worry, I will continue the story, but I'm a busy woman so be patient._

_Acid rush, Wow thnx for the astonishing review, I am glad u like my 'entrance scene' hope you like this chapter just as much although it was difficult to write. Anyway, no answers on the Kurtis question for you either just read and find out :) _

_Chain, Thank you for reviewing Chain, hope you like the next chappie:)

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Chapter 2, The scent of fish and oil.

It was dark outside, nightfall had passed, but with her sunglasses still on Lara was looking at the sign of a monkey painted in gold. Her eyebrow cocked as she read the small line under the monkey, _the ultimate fishermen's bar_. A fishermen's bar with a monkey as a mascot, how ironic.

Lara looked away from the sign and walked inside the bar. Indian background music filled the room and the scent of fish entered her nose. The wooden floor under her feet cracked with every step she took proving to Lara that it wasn't one of the newest buildings in Delhi.

There was a small group of men sitting at the bar, all of them with their heads turned in Lara's direction. Another group of three men was sitting behind a table, playing a card game, but they had their eyes away from the cards and aimed at Lara, just as the men at the bar. Lara was used to that kind of attention, she pulled up a smile, passed the men at the table and walked to the bar to ask the bartender about Khoa Yune.

It seemed the bartender was the only one who hadn't noticed Lara yet. But the only reason for that was because he was standing with his back to Lara. Lara saw a cutting knife on his left side, and on his right side she saw two dead fish. He was probably preparing a meal for one of the men in the bar.

"Excuse me…" Lara decided to get his attention.

The man looked over his shoulder, his eyes widened when he saw Lara emerging in his sight. He pulled up a smile and turned towards Lara.

"Yes what is it you want?" He asked with his fake smile.

"I am looking for a man named Khoa Yune?"

The bartender frowned but seemed to be willing to help Lara.

"He is in other room, behind that door."

He pointed to a door at the back of the bar on the right. She thanked the bartender and walked to the door, with all the men in the room still looking at her. Lara opened the door and saw that a small office was on the other side of it. A man was sitting behind an old wooden desk. His black hair almost fell on his shoulders his brown eyes focused on hers when he noticed her presence. He was sitting there with his bare chest, only wearing a pair of jeans. His upper body was slightly muscular and a tattoo of a hawk had been made on his chest. The man was rather good looking, but could he be trusted?

"And who might you be?" he asked Lara and stood from his chair, the tone of his voice sounded very friendly.

"My name is Lara Croft, I need to travel the black river and was told you were the one to ask."

Yune shrugged.

"Why would a pretty lady like you go to a place like that?"

"That's personal, all you have to do is drive." Lara replied with a bit of sarcasm.

But it was enough sarcasm to make Yune laugh. He offered Lara a seat on the chair at the other side of the desk. Lara decided to accept his offer and seated herself placing her backpack on her lap.

"I don't go there for free, you will have to pay for the danger of the trip."

"What is your price?" Lara asked, partly understanding his need for money but also knowing that he would ask more money then just the value of the dangers ahead.

"Ten thousand pounds." He said.

Lara raised her eyebrow, she honestly had expected more, but who is she to complain.

"Alright deal."

Yune smiled at her.

"Good, one half will be paid before departure other half will be paid when we arrive back at Delhi."

"Agreed, can you leave tomorrow morning at seven?"

Yune nodded and almost seemed to be bothered about the time for it to be too late instead of too early

"Meet me at village just outside jungle, my boat is there and I will wait for you there."

"Alright I will see you tomorrow then." Lara stood from her chair and was ready to leave before Yune called for her.

"Lara Croft?"

Lara turned and wondered what he was about to ask.

"Yes?"

"Small boat, no privacy."

Lara shrugged.

"Don't worry, I'm not shy."

Yune laughed and watched Lara leave his office. Back at the bar Lara saw the men looking at her again. She sighed and passed them to get to the exit, she opened the door and walked outside, pleased to be away from these men and their staring disorder.

* * *

The next morning

Still wearing nothing but a pair of jeans and hiking boots Yune was leaning back against his boat. His arms were folded together, he was enjoying the beautiful sunrise. The sunrise was beautiful indeed, but you couldn't say that of his boat. It looked like it could fall apart any second. Lara saw there had been leaks on the front side, to fix the leaks he had covered them with wooden planks. Other then that it looked like an old rusty boat.

"Looks can be deceiving." Yune said as he noticed Lara watching his boat with questionable eyes.

"Really?"

"From outside she's ugly, from inside she's beautiful, you'll see."

Lara reached in her bag and pulled out an envelop "Lets hope so," she said and handed him the envelop "or else I want my money back."

Yune took the envelop and put it in the left back pocket of his jeans, he didn't even bother to count the money.

"No worries Miss Croft, my boat is safe, although I can not say of the dangers ahead in the river."

"I'm a big girl Mr Yune, don't worry about me, and please call me Lara."

"Alright Lara, in that case it's Yune instead of Mr Yune." he replied "Now come, I show you boat."

He jumped down on his boat, Lara did the same and noticed the wooden floor under her feet crackling a little.

"I show you where you can sleep." He said to Lara.

He walked to the cabin on the back of the boat and showed Lara a room with a kitchen and two beds. The room was barely big enough for it all to fit in, but Lara had already expected something like this from the moment she saw the boat.

"We sleep here, like I said, no privacy."

"And like I said yesterday, I am not shy."

Yune laughed and walked back outside, he started yelling, calling out for someone in Indian. Lara followed him and tried to see who he was calling. Suddenly at the front side of the boat a hatch opened and a head popped out of it.

"What?" the man said with a strong American accent.

Yune walked towards him and helped the American up. He was short, Lara was about a head size taller then this man, his blonde hair looked all messed up and marks of dried oil covered his face. He wore a sloppy black t-shirt and a pair of jeans with under it a pair of boots just as Yune and herself off course.

"Our guest has arrived." Yune said and pointed at Lara, who was rather amused by this man's appearance.

The man looked at Lara and was about to shake hands with her, was it not that he reminded himself just in time that his hands were covered with oil. Instead of shaking hands he waved at Lara.

"Hi nice to meet ya." He said then he looked at Yune "What was her name again?" he asked his friend.

Lara replied.

"Lara, just call me Lara." She said with a smile.

"Hey you're English." He stated as he heard Lara's fluent English accent.

Yune laughed "This is Andre, he is responsible for the engine and the liquor on the boat." he said.

"And very good liquor to be honest." Andre said. "By the way Yune, engine is all fixed up we're ready to go."

"Good, get yourself cleaned up while I start boat, you stink."

He received an angry look from Andre but Lara had to agree with Yune, he had a terrible scent around him.

"You should be thankful for heaving the best mechanic there is, instead of telling me I stink, you might get a mutiny one day."

Yune laughed at his friend and waved him off. Lara watched Andre walk into the hut and close the door behind him. Two benches stood opposite of each other in the centre of the boat. Lara seated herself noticing that Yune closed the hatch to the engine room and walked up front to start the boat. Not much later their journey had started and Lara was on her way to the dead river to get the shard and stop Karel from his plans to bring back the Nephilim race.

* * *

Ihsmir had just brought his daughter and son to school and was on his way back home. He couldn't stop his mind from thinking about Lara. He felt guilty for sending her to the dead river all by herself, but he knew he could not come with her. He couldn't risk putting the lives of his daughter and son in danger.

Letting out a deep sigh he walked into his house, closing the door behind him. As he turned around his eyes met an uninvited guest. Ihsmir was frozen with fear, about three meters away from him stood a man that looked awfully familiar to him.

"Mr Omer, I think it is wonderful to see you again."

"Joachim Karel…" was all Ihsmir managed to say.

"The one and only." Karel replied with a smile.

"Get out of my house Karel, I don't want anything to do with you."

Karel shrugged "then you should never have joined the Lux Veritartis." He said.

"I know nothing Karel, I left the Lux Veritartis for more then ten years ago."

Karel clasped his hands behind his back and started walking towards Ihsmir. Ihsmir did his best to stay calm and to hide the fear that was trying to take control of his body.

"According to Mr Trent you do know something, or shall I put it this way, you have something I want."

Ihsmir was confused when he heard Kurtis' name fall.

"Where is Kurtis what did you do to him?"

Karel smirked.

"Mr Omer, I didn't do anything to him, well not yet that is. But lets not change our discussion, I believe you have a small notebook that is of high interest for me. I searched your house but off course I couldn't find anything which leads me to the next question, where is the notebook?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about Karel, like I said I don't know anything, please leave my house."

A deep sigh left Karel's mouth, it frustrated him that he didn't receive any cooperation from Ihsmir, but he decided to give it one last try.

"Mr Omer it would be best if you cooperated with me, you should know I am not easy to fool."

Ihsmir swallowed deeply and then answered again.

"I don't know anything about a notebook."

Immediately Karel's hand shot out to his throat, cutting of the air from his windpipe. In a reflex Ihsmir grasped his hands around Karel's wrist and tried to pull it away, but the strength of the Nephili was superior compared to his.

"I'm running out of patience Mr Omer, perhaps I should go and see one of your children."

Ihsmir's eyes widened in fear, he knew Karel has it in him to hurt his children, and he could not let his children get involved, Ihsmir had no choice but to tell Karel the truth.

"No please not my children, leave them out of this I will tell you what I know." He begged his enemy.

The pressure on his throat loosened a little "I am listening." Karel said.

"A woman has the notebook." He said.

Ihsmir could see Karel was surprised by his answer.

"A woman?" Karel asked and cocked an eyebrow "What is her name?"

Ihsmir hesitated with his answer. He couldn't just give away Lara's name, but then again, he had already said that a woman has the notebook, Karel actually didn't even have to ask who this woman was, Ihsmir was certain he already knew.

"Lara Croft…"

Karel smiled "off course, who else could it have been, where can I find her?"

Still afraid that Karel might hurt his children Ihsmir decided to answer that question as well.

"She's traveling the dead river."

An evil smile moved up on Karel's face.

"Is she now? This is very interesting, thank you very much Mr Omer but I'm afraid I will have to end our conversation."

Without any warning Karel turned his hand and twisted Ihsmir's neck. He dropped Ihsmir's motionless body on the floor and smirked.

"I wouldn't want you to warn our dear tomb raider about me, I would prefer to surprise her."

He clasped his hand behind his back again and calmly paced out of Ihsmir's house. As he walked down the staircase he was already thinking of a plan to get the notebook from Lara, he was no longer paying attention to Ihsmir or to the fact that he had just killed the father of two very young children.

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_Well that's it, chapter 2. I hope you liked it, I personally think it wasn't as good as the first chapter, but I promise the next one will be better:)_


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